1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data storage. More specifically, the invention relates to the balancing of access to data among available resources in a storage network.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the continued increase in the usage of electronic systems for the storage and distribution of information, it has become desirable for users of such systems to have access to ever larger storage facilities. Particularly when working with graphical and video information, the amount of storage that may be required can become much larger than the amount of storage available in a single disk drive or other storage medium.
Various systems have been developed which provide access to an aggregation of storage via an electronic network. Generally such systems involve large numbers of individual storage units arranged in a variety of architectures and accessible via the network. However, simply providing access to a large number of individual resources may present difficulties in configuration, maintenance and performance.
In particular, because the patterns of access to individual volumes within the storage system may vary over time, a particular distribution of storage units among the available servers to handle them may require periodic adjustment in order to attain better throughput. Additionally, in the event of failure of servers or storage units, it may be desirable to reconfigure the storage system in order to accommodate the change in capabilities due to the failure.
Therefore, there is a continued need for improved systems and methods for reconfiguring storage systems involving multiple storage units during their operation in order to maintain efficient and effective access to the data stored within.